Key Issues

Although during my trip with Melissa I saw amazing sights every day, I was constantly challenged with "things" happening to me.

I am generally a glass half full kind of girl, but during this trip, some days I saw the glass as half empty.

Much like Murphy's Law says, "If something can go wrong, it will."

And sometimes like Murphy's law states, "If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway."

And then there are the times in life that when, "Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse."

So begins my story.

The first thing that you receive upon signing in to board the cruise ship is a key. Like this one.



You have to keep this key with you at all times. It is your life line on the ship so to speak.

You need this key to check you out as you leave the ship, and you also need it to check yourself back in as you board the ship.

Then if you want to purchase anything on the ship such as a Diet Coke or say four prescriptions in the infirmary, plus the cost of your doctor's office visit (but that is for another post), then the ship would use this card to charge the purchases to your account.

And last, but most importantly, it is the key to your cabin.

So, Melissa told me to be sure that I don't lose this key, because I would need it all of the time.

Well, as it turns out, losing my key was never the problem for me.

Apparently the only problem with me and my key was simply me. And my skin.

Let me explain.

We both received our first keys, and both of our keys worked perfectly for the first day.

Then on day two, I was very surprised to find out that my key would not work to let me open our cabin door.

So, I had to go to the purser's desk to ask for a new one. They then informed me that I had more than likely deactivated my key because I kept it too close to my camera. That seemed reasonable, so I made sure to keep it no where near my camera.
And since Melissa kept her key in her camera bag, I volunteered to hold her key for her as well.

Interestingly enough, the next day, neither of our keys worked. So, once again, I found myself in line at the purser's desk, along with Melissa.

Here we are. We had just left the pool to go shower and change.



Only to find out that neither of our keys worked.



So, they issued us new keys. Melissa went straight to the room to shower and change, but I had to go down to the infirmary first for my kidney infection issues (but again, that is for another post).

I returned from the infirmary, only to discover that my key did not work again. Melissa's, however, worked just fine.

Sigh.

So, I showered and changed and went down for the third time to the purser's desk to get another key. They looked at me rather strangely. They asked me if I was keeping it near my camera. I said no. They asked me if it was in my purse with my cell phone. I said no. (I didn't have a purse or a cell phone, but that is also for another post.)

I politely informed them that I had only been to the infirmary and straight to my cabin. The key had been in my hand the entire time.

So they gave me the third key.

The next day I was back at the purser's desk for my fourth key.

The day after that, as I was crying at the purser's desk for the fifth time, I asked the sweet lady who was on duty that morning, "Am I deactivating my room key? Is it my skin that is messing it up?"

She looked at me very sweetly and said in her gentlest voice, "It's very rare, but it does happen."

Sigh.

So, she went to a drawer behind her desk, and pulled out this envelope.



She took my fifth new room key and slid it into the envelope.



Then she gently said trying not to humiliate me any further, "Let's try this. Carry it in the envelope so that you don't have to touch it as much, and maybe it will continue working for you."

Sigh.

Bless her sweet heart. It sounded good in theory. And it did work. For two more days. But I looked at Melissa and said in my best Scarlet O'Hara voice , "As God and you as my witnesses, I am not going to the purser's desk for a sixth key!"

As Murphy's Law states, "Smile... tomorrow will be worse."

Sigh.